DISCORDANCE BETWEEN OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONALABILITY OF PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

The objectives were to investigate whether there is a discordance betw een observed and reported functional ability in patients with rheumato id arthritis (RA) as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire ( HAQ) and, if so, which demographic, clinical and psychological factors contribute to that discordance. Fifty-one consecutive RA patients of the out-patient clinic were included. Self-reported functional ability was compared with the observed performance of tasks as described by t he HAQ. The amount of discordance was computed by subtracting reported scores from observed scores. A positive sign stands for overestimatio n of functional ability by the patient. The average amount of discorda nce was low, 0.09 (S.D. 0.39), but showed a large range: -0.88 to 1.00 . Multiple regression analysis showed that male patients overestimate their functional ability by 0.21 HAQ units compared with female patien ts. RA patients overestimate their functional ability with increasing disease duration and severity, while RA patients in the early stage of the disease tend to underestimate their functional ability.